Jackson-Stops & Staff, Cirencester, has completed the sale of Trillgate Farm, a 17^th-century Cotswold farmhouse, the former country home of British fashion designer Cath Kidston, and her music producer husband, Hugh Padgham.

The farmhouse, with its mullion windows, high ceilings and flagstone floors, has a light and spacious interior. Bursting with rustic charm and paraphernalia collected at car boot sales and markets, an emphasis on soft colours allow these key features to shine.

Cath Kidston said: We decorated it in quite a low-key way. I like plain walls in lighter colours with complementing florals. Upstairs there are a lot of Cath Kidston fabrics, vintage finds and an antique four-poster bed which my sister lent to me".

The seven bedroom stone-built house is set in three acres of gardens and grounds with a small orchard, wild flower garden and a croquet lawn among the many delights. Trillgate Farm stands alone at the head of the peaceful Slad Valley, a valley immortalised in the writings of the author Laurie Lee (Cider with Rosie), and offering views largely unchanged in the last 100 years. Unsurprisingly, and even with a list price of 1.75 million, this classic property laced with Cath Kidston magic did not remain on the market for long.

Following the sale of Trillgate Farm, the couple moved closer to nearby Painswick, a small Cotswold town recently experiencing something of a reawakening albeit a quiet, unassuming one. A former wool town often described as the Queen of the Cotswolds because of its large limestone buildings, Painswick has largely eluded the glamour of the rich and famous invading other parts of Gloucestershire. That is despite the presence of the novelist Jilly Cooper and designer Lulu Guinness, residing in neighbouring valleys.

A lot of interesting and clever people live around Painswick, confirms Jamie Dalrymple Hamilton, Director of Jackson-Stops & Staff, Cirencester. Legend has it that local flea markets first inspired Cath Kidston to set up shop in Clarendon Cross in London in 1993, years before her brand achieved the global reach of today. Indeed, Cath Kidston cites quaint shops as one of the key attractions of this sleepy village, and shares an appreciation of the fact that the area isnt filled with smart shops selling useless things.

Serendipity aside, the village now also hosts a number of events and festivals, the largest of which is the Painswick Wearable Art Festival. Conceived to be for fashion what Hay-on-Wye is for books, this years event attracted nearly five thousand visitors and 70 wearable entries. In only its second year, the festival counts Plum Sykes as Patron, with Dan Chadwick and artist Grayson Perry among the judging panel. As well as the customary charms expected with a Cotswold town a picturesque church, rare 17^th-century spectacle stocks and Englands oldest bowling green, Painswick also offers many practical attractions.

The market town of Cirencester is 16 miles away, while Cheltenham, noted for its Music and Literary Festivals as well as its famous National Hunt race course, only nine. The capital can be reached in around two hours by car, while there are regular train services from Stroud Station taking little over an hour and a half to London Paddington. For those with young families, there is a good local primary school in the town, and two grammar schools only three miles away in Stroud. Jackson-Stops & Staff, Cirencester, have a number of properties for sale in Painswick and surrounding villages, including a Grade II listed town house with bakery for 895,000.